Siepp House - Black Point - Linn, WI - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

County of house: Walworth County
Location of house: Southland Rd., on Black Point, Linn
Phone: (262)-248-1888
Architect: Adolph Cudell
Architectural Style: Victorian: Queen Anne
Built: 1888

"In 1888, Conrad and Catherine Seipp, owners of one of Chicago's most important nineteenth century breweries, selected German born Adolph Cudell (1850-1910) as architect for their new summer residence on Lake Geneva's south shore. Several reasons can account for Seipps' choice of Cudell for this commission as well as his choice earlier to design their near south side Chicago home. First, the Seipps were avid supporters of the German-American community in their city and Cudell was a German native having arrived in 1873 from Herzogenrath.

"Second, Cudell had an established reputation as a designer by the time Seipps were seeking an architect. Cudell's practice in Chicago commenced shortly after his arrival and in the wake of the Chicago fire in 1871, several major commissions came his way. ...

"Black Point is an example of the front gabled, spindlework subtype of the Queen Anne architectural style. The broad gable roof dominates the front facade with lesser gables on the sides above gable wall dormers. The elaborate tower, a defining feature of Queen Anne residences, ascends to a height of four stories and is placed at the corner of the front gable. The spindlework seen in the porch and porch balcony balustrades, porch support posts, gable end treatment, cornice brackets, and fretwork are typical of this subtype. The Palladian window motif present on the front facade is a classical detail borrowed from the Free Classic subtype of the Queen Anne style.

"Black Point's Queen Anne design takes full advantage of the balloon framing used in its construction of irregular wall planes through the incorporation of the tower, the recessed balcony on the front facade, the projecting angular sections of porch, and the projecting front entrance. The use of fish scale patterned shingles in the cornice is another common Queen Anne feature while the scale and use of the spindled and scroll-work brackets is less common. Historic photographs from the turn-of-the century show Black Point painted in a polychromatic scheme including the application of contrasting colors to elements of the millwork.

"The Queen Anne style evident in Black Point's form and design was used for a number of other lakeshore residences erected during the 1880s and early 1890s. Few had the rich ornamentation and classic Queen Anne proportions of Black Point. Today, few intact Queen Anne designs survive around the lake or in the village of Williams Bay or the town of Lake Geneva. The relative significance of Black Point is heightened as a result." ~ NRHP Nomination Form